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26
 
AVANTISUNDARI KATHA SĀRA
 
away here; and it pains me to abandon him.' I then received
the child from her and took him to Vāmadeva. The
sage asked me to bring him to you, saying that he would prove
a valuable companion to your son.' The king accepted the
child with pleasure and called him Devarakşita as he had
been protected all along by god.
 
(Av. Sara IV. 139-56; Av. p. 199)
 
Story of Arthapāla
 
"
 
Another day queen Vasumati appeared before the
king with another child in her arms and said: "This evening
a divine woman came to me with this child on her hips and
said, Good lady! Know that I am Tārāvalī, daughter of
Manibhadra, a chief of the Yakşas. I was roaming about in
search of my husband and came upon this child crying in a
crematory in the city of Kāśi. With deep affection I took
him to my father, who showed it to Kubera, Lord of Yakşas.
The omniscient Lord asked me, 'How do you feel towards the
child?' 'I feel,' said I, 'as if the child is my own.' Kubera
narrated the following story explaining the cause of my
affection.
 
(Av. Sāra IV. 157-61. Av. portion lost)
 
Story of Saunaka
 
'In the Kosala country there was a Brahman named
Saunaka, a pupil of Somaträta. One day the teacher and his
pupil were dining in the king's palace when Bandhumati the
princess served the guests. Saunaka and Bhandhumatī fell in
love with each other and had secret relations. The king of
(Tri) garta¹ to whom Bandhumati had been promised came to
woo her, when her companions presented to him the daughter
of a nurse dressed as Bandhumatī. Saunaka eloped with
Bandhumatī; and, when they were crossing the river Sarayü
the boat capsised and Bandhumati fell into the river and was
lost. He searched for her in vain and found the dead body
of a woman being eaten by vultures. He thought his beloved
had died in the river, and in great sorrow, cremated the body
and immersed the bones in holy waters. He repaired to a
hermitage, told his story to a holy ascetic and started on a
fast unto death. Bandhumati who was listening the story from
 
1. The kingdom of Jalandhara, a part of the district of
Lahore (N. L. Dey's Geographical Dictionary).
 
D